Mean Streak
Mean Streak was an invertible robot that competed in Series 7 of Robot Wars. It reached the second round of its heat, losing to the thirteenth seed S.M.I.D.S.Y. there. Design Mean Streak was an invertible, four wheel drive, rectangular-box-shaped robot that resembled fellow Series 7 competitor Diabolus, but was much longer and less round. It was painted white with blue flames along its bodywork, and equipped with two small motorcycle flywheels spinning at 3000rpm, although its statistics board quoted it as having four flywheels. The flywheels themselves were fitted with titanium cutting teeth at the bottom and were meshed together through gear-like teeth at the top, with the right-hand flywheel powering the left-hand one. The robot's armour was made out of Lexan, the same material used to make police riot shields. While Mean Streak had decent pushing power through its 4hp drive, its weapons were ineffective and the robot itself suffered from fragile armour and a high ground clearance. The Team Team Mean Streak was a three-man team based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. The team captain was Derek Meads, and he was joined by teammates Martin Moss and Jonathan Lunn. Derek Meads was the lead speaker in the team's interviews, and the tactician for Mean Streak's battles, while 30-year old Martin Moss was one of the robot's designers and mechanics. The Mean Streak website also credits a further wo members of the team: 20-year old Ashley Bridgeman, who was the team's 3D design artist and webmaster, and 19-year old Robin Moss. Qualification The team previously attempted to enter Mean Streak into Series 6. They were selected to attend the qualifiers, but were forced to withdraw due to a major electrical failure and the robot being 25kg over the weight limit. The team also planned to enter the second series of Robot Wars Extreme, but did not take part in any of the competitions. There was a notable incident during Mean Streak's Series 7 qualifier, alongside Brutus Maximus, Constrictor and Retirebot, where it was immobilised by a net used by Brutus Maximus. As entanglement weapons were illegal in the original run of Robot Wars, the battle was immediately awarded to Mean Streak, although both Brutus Maximus and Constrictor also received discretionary places regardless. Robot History Series 7 Mean Streak competed in Heat G of the Seventh Wars, and faced fellow newcomers Hellbent and German entry I Bot One Beta, along with the Terror-Dactyls' newest robot, Araknia, in its first round battle. It immediately drove towards Araknia, but was flipped over and axed by Hellbent, before spinning round in circles and being briefly pushed by I Bot One Beta. Hellbent struck Mean Streak's bottom panel again, with Mean Streak backing away and driving around a flame jet before pushing Araknia around and tearing through its side panels with its discs. Mean Streak continued to be axed and pushed around the arena by Hellbent, but survived as I Bot One Beta and Araknia were counted out, and progressed to the second round regardless. In the second round, Mean Streak faced S.M.I.D.S.Y., the thirteenth seed. Both robots charged head-on into each other in the opening seconds, with sparks flying as S.M.I.D.S.Y. got under Mean Streak and pushed it across the arena. Mean Streak continued making sparks as its discs hit S.M.I.D.S.Y.'s sides, but was again pushed around until S.M.I.D.S.Y. accidentally drove itself into Sgt. Bash's CPZ. S.M.I.D.S.Y. recovered, pushing Mean Streak into Sgt. Bash, who attempted to crush its front panel as he and S.M.I.D.S.Y. pinned it in. Mean Streak struggled to escape from the CPZ, and was pushed around the arena again into Mr. Psycho, who pounded its top panel with his hammer. Again, Mean Streak escaped, driving over and around the pit square just as it was beginning to descend. It charged towards S.M.I.D.S.Y. again, but missed, allowing S.M.I.D.S.Y. to push Mean Streak into the wall, where it was again attacked by Sgt. Bash. S.M.I.D.S.Y. eventually lifted Mean Streak onto its side, where it was left to be counted out by Refbot and picked up by Mr. Psycho. Holding Mean Streak high, Mr. Psycho lowered it onto the Floor Flipper, where it was thrown across - and almost out of - the arena. Sgt. Bash then proceeded to crush through Mean Streak's side with his pincers, before Refbot pushed both robots towards the pit. Mean Streak eventually toppled in with assistance from S.M.I.D.S.Y., and was eliminated from the Seventh Wars. Results |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 1 *Losses: 1 Series Record Trivia *Mean Streak's chassis was provided by Apex Audio and Metalwork, the batteries by Hawker Energy Products Inc., and the weapons by Motor Works. **During construction of Mean Streak, the team were helped by Roger Plant of Team Big Cheese, who gave them modified motors, gearboxes and speed controllers, and David Gamble of Team Tornado, who helped them with the electronics and antennae. *The robot that Mean Streak resembled, Diabolus, appeared in the heat that aired directly before the heat that Mean Streak appeared in. **Both robots lost to a seeded robot in their respective heats - Diabolus lost to X-Terminator who won its heat and Mean Streak lost to S.M.I.D.S.Y. who did not win its heat. *Hellbent was the only one of Mean Streak's opponents that was not invertible and also the only one that did not appear in another episode (due to Araknia's team appearing in Series 6, Extreme 2 with Riptilion, who would also appear in an episode of Series 7). External Links *Team Mean Streak website (archived) Category:UK Series competitors Category:Robots from West Yorkshire Category:Robots with Cutting Discs Category:Invertible Robots Category:Robots with an equal amount of Wins and Losses Category:Robots which debuted in Series 7 Category:Robots which only fought in Series 7